Ars talks to Android execs about the upcoming OS

In just a few weeks, Google will be pushing out one of its largest Android releases ever: Android 5.0, Lollipop. The update changes nearly every aspect of the OS – a new design for every app, a new runtime, lots of new features, and a focus on battery life. The company is also launching a pair of new Nexus flagships, the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 aiming for a more premium market, and the first Android TV device, the Nexus Player. Together with the release of Google Inbox and a new Wear update, we’re in the middle of a very busy few weeks.

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Unfortunately nothing on AOSP. It seems with all the unbundling going on there is not much left in the base OS… even the WebView component was removed. Great if you run CyanogenMod or Omnirom and don’t want to use the Google Play services/store…

It seems Android gets very close now to becoming useless without proprietary Google components. Rough times ahead for F-Droid.

I think the problem is your expectations of what a “usable” phone is have changed. The Play Store, Maps, Calendar, Chrome, etc. all use propriety Google services. Google would argue that they’re doing the right thing by keeping them out of Android AOSP.

AOSP is meant to be a Google free base that anyone can use to build a smartphone. The fact that you consider the Google components essential is something of an endorsement for Google’s Android.

What I meant was: app developers will use more of the proprietary APIs because it is easy and convenient for them. So, even if the developers make the source code of their app freely available it will become more difficult to get them running without Google’s proprietary APIs and involves porting to non-Google alternatives of those APIs, which is a shame…

The good news is that everyone in the business knows Google is locking it down, so they can all work on backup plans!

App maturity and popularity will crystallize soon enough, so satisfying users with a new OS will not be the chore that it was in the past. Get the top 10 apps and it might be enough for the top 90% of users. There will not be 10 new must-have apps that you’re missing every year.

Samsung, Amazon, Facebook, Blackberry(+Lenovo?), LG, not to mention all those silent Chinese assassin manufacturers. There are big players who could be putting a hit out on Google’s Android right now.

And if you doubt this, consider the battle right now in India and China for the next billion users who don’t have a smartphone at all. It’s not a given that they’ll need or want Android.

And if you doubt this, consider the battle right now in India and China for the next billion users who don’t have a smartphone at all. It’s not a given that they’ll need or want Android.

Considering…. Nope. There is a difference between probability and possibility. Its possible, sure. But the probability of someone displacing Android is pretty small. Look at all the trouble Samsung is having with Tizen. They control enough of the supplier chain to make an alternative OS work, but they haven’t cracked the code yet.

And if you doubt this, consider the battle right now in India and China for the next billion users who don’t have a smartphone at all. It’s not a given that they’ll need or want Android.

Considering…. Nope. There is a difference between probability and possibility. Its possible, sure. But the probability of someone displacing Android is pretty small. Look at all the trouble Samsung is having with Tizen. They control enough of the supplier chain to make an alternative OS work, but they haven’t cracked the code yet.

Yeah, I guess Samsung hasn’t actually released a tizen phone. But Tizen is essentially Bada, which they tried. Tizen phones keep getting delayed. They also released smart watches and cameras running the OS, to crickets.

Personally, I always thought the Google services were the only good things to Android. Of course, now you can use Nokia’s Here maps, but I don’t think other apps (like the many sports trackers) will make use of those like they use Google Maps.